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Visa’s Augmented Reality Payment Tech

Augmented reality will take your order right now—no waiting. Visa Europe and tech firm, Blippar, have developed and tested an imaging system for selecting and paying for clothes. As the following articles describes, when you spot a garment you like, your smartphone can capture, identify, and pay for it using an integrated application

Visa has introduced an augmented reality (AR) payment app with House of Holland. The proof-of-concept was launched at a House of Holland’s menswear launch and allowed fashion show participants to purchase the designs from the models on the runway.Customers hold up their smartphone at the desired garment on the catwalk and the technology identifies the item, completing the transaction with a pre-registered prepaid, debit or credit card.

The technology was developed by Visa Europe’s innovation hub, Visa Europe Collab, and Blippar as part of a major London Fashion Collection’s Mens event. The technology hopes to be made widely available to other retailers later this year.

“Augmented reality has the potential to be transformative for the retail industry. Imagine a future where you can point your phone at a friend’s new outfit with their permission, only for the app to recognise and source that outfit in your size, and give you the option of having it sent straight to your home,” said Visa Europe Collab co-founder, Hendrik Kleinsmiede.

House of Holland founder Henry Holland added: “I’m so excited to be working with Visa Europe again on a new project that I feel really is the future of retail. Being able to scan garments through Blippar and purchase them pretty much off their back is an amazing technological development and one I have dreamt of as a consumer and a fashion business owner.”

Simon Richard, retail and strategic partnerships director at Blippar, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Visa Europe to offer a world first in payments via augmented reality technology, using the Blippar app. The potential in AR payment integrations is ground breaking for the retail industry and we are proud to be offering our world-class tech to explore this with Visa Europe and support The House of Holland.”

Image recognition has been around for a while but we continue to see new applications being rolled out, especially as smartphones have proven to be an ideal platform for integrated payment solutions. With the on-demand economy driving mobile order and pay for food and other services, it’s no surprise to see instant clothing selection and payments. This may be another reason for customers not to frequent brick-and-mortar stores, if they can order and buy clothing by simply walking down the street.

Overview by Raymond Pucci, Associate Director, Research Services at Mercator Advisory Group